Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-07-16
DETECTIVES In JAII.

A few evening" ego Robert A. Pinker-
Ton hcSd oi the celebrated detective
agency, sat in the rotuDda of the South.
etn, tllking to number of well known
ger tlcman, all of whom were dcliphted
TO discover that detective epuld sneak
the English language and EXPRESS his
ideas without the as6 of slang. The con
versatien tdincd upon the Maxwell case.
IN the rosrsc of which one gentleman, a
ewycr, with more father-in-law than
knowledge of raw, bitterly denounced
the action of the States representatives
IN having the Detective McCulloch,
otherwise knownas as 'Bingielder' thrown
INTO lail to obtain MaXwell's confession.
what do You thirk of it," one of the
party inquired of Mr. Pinkerton.
" believe" said he, 'that where such
a method is the only way to obtain the
evidence necessary to establish guilt, it
is the best way"
But isn't it dangerouss'
Not atall under the proper circum-
stances. liza man is employed to 30 to
Jail withIhe understanding that his pay
Is The same whether he obtains a confess
sion OF not, there is no danger Rewards
are what make men unreliable under
those circumstances, because it is a temp
ation to man 10 make up story We
never take a case for this reason on basis
of reward IN the event of success. BE-
sides, every one knows that such testi-
mony in criminal cases is always the sub
lcct oi careful instruction by the court,
and the testimony falls fiat unless it is
corroboratcd by other evidence. 1t would
be very hard thing after man had
manufactured the confession to manufac-.
ture the corrob, ration. Facts invented
can never have the strength of the facts
rs they exist. There is bound to be a
discrepancy, because of the attempt to
make everything perfect We have tried
this method number of times. Often
we have put men in Jail who never OBJ
tanned any admission, and we have OBJ
tanned admissions which were never used,
as subsequent developments showed they
We're not needed
PUMPING AN EXPRESS THIEF.
"one of our first experiences in this
line was in connection with an express
robbery. In 1859 or go, amoncy package
OF $4,000 was stolen or lost from the
Adams Eexpress Company's office at
Montgomery, Ala. Nathan Marony was
the agent there. His character was such
that strong suspicion pointed to him.
The company did not discharge him.
Finally another money package, this
time $40 900, was missed from seal
pouch made up at Montgomery fer New
York city. The pouch arrived at New
York empty and investigation showed
that the pouch had been ingeniously cut
open underneath pocket in the outside
IN which the way-bills were placed
There was y flap to this pocket and
when this Zap was down the slit in the
pouch was not discernable 1t was pretty
clear, il seemed, that the pouch had
been ritied in transit Investigation
along the road did not result in a single
clue TO the robbery, and finally some one
took II into his head 10 make up pack
age similar to the one lost, put it IN the
pouch and take IL out. He couldn't do
II. The package wouldn't 90 through
the slit. The case was then turned over
to my father. Allen Pinkerton. who de-
clared that the money had never left the
oth'' ~ fVhtSomtt1s dHu utclaftu lllat
Marony was the thief There was
no evidence 20 establish this con-
clusivcly. A prejudice existed then
as now against circumstantial evidence,
50 the only way to secure conviction was
10 get Maronys confession. Marony
had been spending more money than his
salary warranted, driving fast horses and
living high generally. IL was concluded
that the first thing TO do was to get Ma
rony away from his friends, SO he was
inveigled to New York, where the COM
pany instituted civil proceedings 10 re-
cover the money. Before his arrival
detective OF our agency, named Scott,
was also arrested in connection with
civil suit. aud thrown into Ludlow street
jail. When Marony arrived he was placed
in Jail. In time he and Scott became ac-
quaintcd, and eventually they were cell
mates. by degrees Scott obtained Ma
rony's confidence. Scott represented him
self MS a cotton buyer, and declared that
il he was out Of his present trouble he